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Impacting Healthcare

Burgeoning alliances for a better future

Fourteen months before the Abraham Accords were formally signed at the White House, Professor Yitshak Kreiss, Director General of Israel’s Sheba Medical Center, the largest facility of its kind in the Middle East, was already planting the seeds of regional cooperation at the Peace to Prosperity Conference in Bahrain.

Those initial contacts with business and healthcare leaders from both the UAE and Bahrain have resulted in blossoming relationships with government health authorities, healthcare systems, hospitals and investment companies.

Within the UAE, Sheba Medical Center is tending to the needs of members of the armed forces who suffer from maladies associated with high cholesterol and diabetes, women with obstetrical issues, as well as short and long term rehabilitation for men, women and children. These treatments are anchored by Sheba Medical Center's cutting-edge 'Sheba Beyond' virtual hospital, tele-medicine programme.

In addition, Sheba is also administering life-saving, on-site treatments to critically ill patients from the Emirates who have been flown to the hospital, as part of Sheba's growing medical referral services in the region.

These burgeoning alliances across the UAE accentuate Professor Kreiss’ vision for the region.

“The most important thing is that once there was human interaction, all the barriers between us came down,” revealed Professor Kreiss. "I have always promoted the idea that healthcare transcends politics and once we started talking to each other, we also learned that we think alike, want the same things and are interested in cooperation. The key here is fomenting a strategy of win/win for all of us. But we didn't understand or know this until we met and learned about each other from both a cultural and personal perspective."

Sheba is actively looking to expand its medical expertise in the region through its Sheba Global division, which is led by Yoel Har-Even.

“We are renowned around the globe as a World's Top 10 Best Hospital by Newsweek magazine for three consecutive years. No other Israeli hospital or any medical facility in the Middle East has garnered such accolades and there are several reasons for this,” Har-Even explained.

“We are world leaders in advanced medical education, training and research. And, we harbor the DNA of the global digital health revolution through our ARC Innovation Center. Some of the start-ups associated with this fast-growing innovation ecosystem are already being used to treat patients in the UAE. We endeavour to showcase our ARC Innovation Center in the Israel Pavilion, during Healthcare Week in Dubai late January this year. Based on our initial successes with healthcare systems and hospitals we are working with in the Emirates, Sheba is fomenting its vision of offering hope without boundaries and fostering true peace between our peoples.”

— Steve K. Walz is Director of Sheba Global Media & Public Relations.